(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for confining an oil slick on the surface of a large body of water and for skimming that oil slick from the water's surface and funneling a mixture of oil and water into a recovery means for separation of the oil from the water so that the oil can be later processed.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Over the last several years, oil spills from tankers running aground or otherwise damaged on the open ocean have become of increased concern due to the pollution damage caused to beaches and the killing of marine and other wildlife that frequents the shorelines and ocean. Of concern also is the frequent occurrence in off-shore oil drilling operations for leaks to develop under the ocean's surface and for oil to be spewed up to the surface and subsequently by the wave action to be drawn onto adjacent beaches.
As a result of this ever continuing potential for pollution, numerous devices have been developed to remove an oil slick from the ocean's surface, as well as other large bodies of water, such as inland lakes and rivers. Representative of various devices that have been developed are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,219,190; 3,348,690; 3,662,891; and 3,688,506.
In general, oil slick recovery devices developed heretofore have comprised floating booms of various construction which are attached in a V-shaped fashion at one end to a "skimmer" of some sort which skims the oil slick from the water's surface. Various boom constructions have been disclosed, such as the floating fences disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,190 and the wooden beam booms or hollow metal pontoons in U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,690. The booms in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,506 comprise upright walls connected together in series fashion, the walls each being provided with float means such as out-riggers so as to hold the walls in upright position during usage. Adjacent walls as shown in that patent are interconnected by a pliant plastic strip. U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,891 discloses a floating boom comprising a cluster of parallel elongated air and water tubes which are flexible over their entire length and, according to the patentee, essentially insensitive to wave action.
Although oil recovery devices known heretofore have been satisfactory to some degree, their use has not been without certain problems. One constant difficulty associated with known fence-type booms is their tendency to roll over and to be twisted with wave action, particularly with rough, rolling seas. As a result various outriggers and the like floats have been incorporated with the fences to keep the fences floating in an upright position. Otherwise there is a tendency for the oil slick to leak underneath the fence or even sometimes to pass over it if a large wave action is encountered. Nevertheless, to my knowledge, these booms of the fence-type construction still do not operate well in rolling seas.
Other booms though of cylindrical-shaped construction and of flexible material, e.g., elongated plastic tubes, do not have sufficient weight to resist wave action. As a result, their relative lightness allows an oil slick to leak underneath the boom at times. Some booms, e.g. wooden beam booms, are just too inflexible to be insensitive to wave action. As a result, one portion of the boom may be hit so hard with a wave that it causes another portion to ride up or down in the water, allowing the oil slick to pass under or over it.